A lower share of flats than 99% of compared French towns, at 0.4%
Where 11% of households have no car in the typical compared French town, Bretteville has 2.3%. For Bretteville, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 7.1%. Households headed by a retired person are more common here than in 95% of compared French towns. In 2023, the Census found 1,027 residents here, living in 470 households.
Throughout this page, the Manche median and the France median are the median of compared communes (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
What stands out about the people of Bretteville
One home in five is a second home
The census counted 130 second homes and occasional dwellings in Bretteville, 19% of its 670 homes: higher than in 93% of compared French towns. 99% of them are houses. Their owners live elsewhere, so they aren’t in the population figures on this page. Homes & cars ↓
An older town
Half of Bretteville’s residents are under 52.7 and half over; the median of compared French towns is 44. 29% are 65 or older (France median 22%), 5.5% 80 or older. Ages ↓
Written from INSEE’s census 2023 on this page, against compared French towns.
A larger share of second homes than 93% of compared French towns: 19%
Every home the census counted: main residences, second homes and occasional dwellings (INSEE counts them together), and empty homes. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
All homes · share of homes
Type of home
Cars per household · share of households
Households in social housing are rarer here than in 99% of compared French towns. The usual figure: 2.1% of homes are second homes in the typical compared French town. Here, 10% of homes stand empty. Some 7.5% of households are newcomers of under two years, against 27% who have been there 30 years or more.
A −4% change since 2012: slower than 84% of compared French towns
Residents at INSEE’s last three censuses, each recast in the 2026 commune boundaries. France has no yearly estimate by commune between censuses.
2012 to 2023
2017 to 2023
In two steps, ±0% to 2017 and −4% after, the town’s change compares with +5% for the median compared French town and ±0% in Manche.
Bretteville is older than 90% of compared French towns: a median age of 52.7
Shares of residents by age at the 2023 census.
Age groups · share of residents
Median age of the 3,798 compared French towns
■ Bretteville 52.7. The median compared French town: 44.
With residents aged 65 and over at 29%, Bretteville is ahead of 82% of compared French towns on that count.
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Median share of women: Manche 52.0%, France 51.8%.
In Bretteville, 6.1% of households are single parents, fewer than in 95% of compared French towns
A household is everyone who shares a main home (résidence principale). Household types come from INSEE’s fuller sample of a quarter of census forms.
Against the Manche median and the France median
Living alone · share
The average household has 2.2 people. For single-parent households, the comparison in the typical compared French town is 10%. Bretteville has fewer one-person households than 74% of compared French towns, at 30%. Where 25% of households are couples with children in the typical compared French town, Bretteville has 27%.
The median resident lives on €31,090 a year per consumption unit
The standard of living (niveau de vie) is a household’s disposable income after taxes and benefits, divided by its consumption units (UC) to allow for its size and make-up: 1 for the first adult, 0.5 for each other person 14 or older, 0.3 for each child under 14.
Medians of compared communes. Source: INSEE, Filosofi 2023.
Half of residents live in households above €31,090 a year per consumption unit and half below; the level is higher than in 89% of compared French towns.
Fewer households headed by a manual worker than 90% of compared French towns: 7.1%
Households by the socio-professional group (PCS) of their reference person, INSEE’s own categories. Jobs and commuting are on the Work & commute page.
Households by reference person’s group · share of households
Compared with 9.4% in the typical compared French town, 12% of households are headed by a manager or professional here. On average, 14% of households are headed by a manual worker in the typical compared French town.
Each household is counted once, by the occupation of its reference person (usually the oldest working adult).
Immigrants make up 1.4% in Bretteville, less than in 97% of compared French towns
INSEE publishes two measures, which overlap but aren’t the same. Neither is the UK’s “born abroad”.
Share of residents · census 2023
Immigrant (immigré)
Born abroad, not French at birth. Someone stays an immigrant after becoming French. A French citizen born abroad (for example in Algeria before 1962) is not one.
Foreign national (étranger)
Not a French citizen today, wherever born. A child born in France to foreign parents can be a foreign national without being an immigrant.
Set against 4.3% in the typical compared French town, 0.9% of residents are foreign nationals in Bretteville. Immigrants make up 6.5% in the typical compared French town.
INSEE publishes no country of birth or ethnicity by commune in these tables, and the census doesn’t ask about religion.
A smaller share of single residents than 99% of compared French towns: 15%
Residents 15 and over by how they live: the census asks both the legal status and whether people live as a couple.
Residents 15 and over · share
By its share of married residents (50%), Bretteville is above 93% of compared French towns. The benchmark for single residents in the typical compared French town: 25%.
Adults with no qualification make up 12% in Bretteville, less than in 87% of compared French towns
Highest diploma of residents 15 and over who have left education, in French terms: the levels don’t map one-to-one to UK or U.S. ones.
Highest diploma · 15 and over, out of education
Two fifths of Bretteville’s residents 15 and over who have left education hold a higher-education diploma, against 30% in the median compared French town; 12% have no diploma (19%).
Among 41 French towns of 1,027 to 2,582 people, the 8th oldest
The 40 compared French towns nearest in population, by median age. Hover for each one’s second homes and immigrants; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Villejust (37.2), the youngest, and Prayssac (62.3), the oldest.
No nearby town is as old as Bretteville
The nearest towns of 2,500 or more, colored by median age. Source: INSEE, census 2023.
| Town | Median age | 65+ | Second homes | Immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bretteville | 52.7 | 29% | 19% | 1.4% |
| Cherbourg-en-Cotentin 78,258 · 5.1 mi | 43.6 | 22% | 3.6% | 4.9% |
| Valognes 6,969 · 10.2 mi | 51 | 29% | 2.4% | 1.6% |
| La Hague 11,484 · 12.3 mi | 45.5 | 19% | 14% | 1.1% |
| Bricquebec-en-Cotentin 5,893 · 13.8 mi | 47 | 25% | 4.6% | 1.3% |
| Les Pieux 3,249 · 16.5 mi | 44.3 | 20% | 15% | 2.7% |
Health, work, housing and schools
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Census 2023. INSEE’s census is a rolling survey: a fifth of small communes each year, 8% of homes in large ones each year. “2023” pools the surveys of 2021 to 2025, so the figures describe the town around 2023, not on one day.
- Medians of compared communes. The comparisons are the median of the département’s compared communes and of France’s (those with an overall grade), each figure its own median: not the total for the département or for France, which large cities pull towards their own figures.
- Immigrants and foreign nationals. INSEE’s two measures: an immigrant was born abroad without French nationality; a foreign national isn’t French today. Neither is a count of people born abroad, which INSEE doesn’t publish by commune.
- Second homes. Homes used for holidays or weekends, with occasional dwellings (kept for work, for example), which INSEE counts together. Their owners are counted where they live, not here.
- Standard of living. INSEE’s Filosofi: disposable income per consumption unit, from tax and benefit files, 2023. The poverty rate is the share of residents below 60% of France’s median. Not published for the smallest communes.
- What France doesn’t ask. The French census asks nothing about ethnicity, religion, language or health, so this page has no such section.
Questions about who lives in Bretteville
What is the population of Bretteville?
1,027 at INSEE’s 2023 census, 4% fewer than in 2012 (1,069).
How old are Bretteville’s residents?
The median age is 52.7, older than 90% of compared French towns. 18% are under 18 and 29% 65 or older.
How many second homes are there in Bretteville?
130, with occasional dwellings: 19% of all homes, against 2.1% for the median compared French town.
How many immigrants live in Bretteville?
INSEE counts 15 immigrants (born abroad, not French at birth), 1.4% of residents, and 9 foreign nationals (0.9%). The medians of compared French towns are 6.5% and 4.3%.
What is the median income in Bretteville?
€31,090 a year per consumption unit in 2023 (median of compared French towns €25,970). Source: INSEE, Filosofi.
Sources: INSEE, census 2023 (population, ages, households, homes, marital status, diplomas, immigrants, foreign nationals, employment), 2026 geography · INSEE, Filosofi 2023 (standard of living, poverty) · IGN Admin Express (boundaries) · Medians and percentiles: TownRatings, over compared French towns, updated November 4, 2026. Under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab).
Contains public sector information under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab): INSEE, DGFiP, the Interior Ministry’s statistics service (SSMSI), the Ministry of Education (DEPP), the Health Ministry’s statistics service (DREES) and the Housing Ministry (Carte des loyers). Commune boundaries: IGN Admin Express.